T/E board mulls options to fix deficit

With a projected deficit of nearly $2.8 million for 2013-14, the Tredyffrin/Easttown Board of School Directors moved forward on the budgetary process during Monday night’s special meeting.

By a 6-2 vote, the board approved the recommended measures of making the preliminary budget available for public view, authorizing public notice that the board intends to adopt a preliminary budget at its Jan. 28 meeting, and authorizing the notice of intent to file for referendum exceptions prior to any filing with the Pennsylvania Department of Education and/or Chester County Court of Common Pleas.

It was the last item that was the primary focus of conversation, and what led to dissenting votes from board members Richard Brake and Liz Mercogliano.

During the meeting, district business manager Arthur J. McDonnell went over the preliminary budget proposal. Projections for next school year included $110,769,734 in revenues and $113,567,247 in expenditures, for an imbalance of $2,797,514.

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As one possible remedy, the board analyzed the impact of instituting a 1.7-percent tax, the maximum allowed under the Act 1 Taxpayer Relief Act of 2006. It was estimated that the tax would raise $1.5 million, thus cutting the deficit to just under $1.3 million.

In addition, more revenue could come with referendum exceptions regarding retirement contributions and special education expenditures. The two would combine for another 1.74-percent tax raise. The combined hikes of 3.44 percent would raise $3.1 million in revenue, with a new cost of $166 for the average Tredyffrin/Easttown homeowner.

Board member Betsy Fadem said that since Act 1 was instituted in 2007, the board has taken exceptions twice, and that it’s one of many considerations in the process leading up to final budget approval in June.

“I think we can get there this year without exceptions, but I would still like a week’s worth of time at our finance meeting and another discussion Jan. 28 to prove it to ourselves and to look at future years,” Fadem said.

Just before the closing vote to proceed as recommended, Brake said why he would vote no.

“I think there’s a danger of incremental policy-making, and I see it every year,” Brake said. “When you look at the dollar amounts, the one-year increase doesn’t look like a lot, but you look at it over 10 or 15 years, you wake up and all those little increases added up to a big increase.”

Board member Karen Cruickshank said any further cuts should be measured carefully.

“It’s an exceptional (educational) community, and it’s a reason why people move here and a reason home values are as strong as they are,” Cruickshank said. “I want us to look very, very hard before doing anything that impacts academic programs any more, because we’ve cut to the bone.”

Board president Kevin Buraks said he is highly optimistic that a suitable solution can be found.

“Looking at the numbers, I’m more hopeful than I’ve been the last four years that we might not have to take exceptions,” Buraks said. “Three and four years ago, these numbers were at $7 million and $9 million, and this is the first year where you can see where things we’ve done have had an effect.”